Buddhism

Budhism-

Founder of Buddhism-

• Buddhism was founded by Gautama Buddha who had been given the name of Siddhartha by his parents.

• Gautama Buddha was the propagator of Buddhism and was contemporary to Mahaveer.

Early Life of Buddha-

• His father was Suddhodana, the chief of the Sakya clan and mother was Maya, princess of the Koliya clan.

• He was born in the Lumbini grove (modern Rummindei) in the Nepal Tarai region.

• The date of the birth of the Buddha is a matter of dispute but most of the scholars place it about 566 BCE.

• He was the prince of the Kingdom of Sakyas and Kshatriya or warrior by caste.

• Soon after his birth, his mother died.

• Hence he was raised by his step mother Mata Prajapati Gautami. Gautama was his surname (gotra) and he was known as Buddha ever since he attained enlightenment.

• He was married at the age of 16 years with Yosadhara.

• On different occasions when he was travelling in the city of Kapilavastu, he came across on old man bent with age and having wrinkled skin, a diseased person and a dead body being carried towards the burial ground.

• It made a deep impression in his mind and feeling of hatred towards the material world.

• His charioteer Chhandak told him that every human has to face such suffering and agony after falling victim to these diseases some point of time.

• In the meantime a son was born to Gautam and Yasodhara who was named Rahula

Maha-Bhinishkramana/ Great Renunication-

• At the age of 29, Gautama managed to slip out unnoticed from the palace.

• This event in Gautam‟s life is famous as the Great Renunication.

• From Kapilavastu, Gautam proceeded towards Rajaghira.

Alara and Rudraka-

• Budha attached himself to two teachers named Alara and Rudraka, the great exponent of Sankhya School of Philosophy.

• But there he was not satisfied by their instruction Then he left his teachers and accompanied by five wandering ascetics-five ascetics named Kondana, Vappa, Bhadiya, Mahanama and Assagi.

After leaving Alara and Rudraka-

• For long six years he endured self imposing sufferings.

• He then realized that he must nourish his body and try to attain peace of mind.

• His companions abandoned him, thinking he had compromised his ascetism.

• One night when he was on the point of death due to exertion and starvation, he decided to take food.

• A young woman named Sujata offered him a bowl of milk-rice.

• His next teacher was Udraka Ramaputra.

• His new teachers failed to satisfy him.

• He spent some time in the caves near Rajagriha, the capital of Magadh.

• From Rajagriha, he went to the forest of Uruvela and spent a few years in self-mortification

Urvela-

• Nourished with food, Gautam went to the sylvan retreats of Uruvela, near modern Boddhgaya on the banks of the river Niranjana and sat under a Peepal tree in deep meditation, resolving not to get up until he had attained enlightenment.

• Here he attained the Supreme Knowledge (Enlightenment) on the 49th day of his continuous meditation.

• Since then he was called the Buddha (the Enlightened One).

• At that time he was in his thirty-fifth year.

• He also came to be known as Tathagat, or one who attained the truth and the Sakya Muni or the Sage of the Sakyas.

Dharma Chakra Pravatan (turning the wheel of Dhamma)-

• From Bodh Gayua Buddha proceeded to Saranath a place near Benaras and delivered his first Sermon at Deer Park to five Brahmins.

• This event is called Dharma Chakra Pravatan (turning the wheel of Dhamma).

• These five Brahmins became his first disciples.

• For the next fortyfive years Buddha travelled widely with his disciples to preach his new doctrines

Visit to different places-

• He also converted his father, his son and other relatives at Kapilavastu. Kings like Prasenjit of Koshala, Bimbisara and Ajatashatru of Magadha became his followers.

• He visited Magadha, Kosala, Vaisali, Kausambi and Anga.

• Kings like Bimbisara, Ajatasatru (Magadha), Prasenajita (Kosala) and Udayana (Kausambi) accepted his doctrines and became his disciples.

• Among his famous disciples the names of Siriputta, Moggalana, Sanjaya, Rahul (Buddha‟s Son) Aniruddha, Ananda, Upali and Sudatta occupy permanent place in Buddhist history

First disciples-

• Asvajit, Upali, Mogallana, Sari-putra and Ananda were the first five disciples of the Buddha

The Sangha and Mahaparinirvana-

The Sangha-

• He established an order of monks and nuns known as the Sanga.

• Within a short time, his Sangha developed into one of the most powerful religions organizations ever

Mahaparinirvana

• He died in 483 BC at Kushinagar in the district of Gorakhpur at the age of 80.

• Thus, Buddha attained Parinirvana and this event is called Mahaparinirvana

Teachings of the Buddha-

The basic teachings of the Buddha are contained in:

The Four Noble Truths, and The Eight-Fold Path-

The following are the Four Noble Truths:

A.The Arya Satya or Four Noble Truths-

They are:-

1.Life is full of suffering or sarrow -Dukhha

2. Sarrow comes from wordly things and material enjoyment -Samudaya

3. One can escape from sarrow through Salvation or Nirvana -Nirodha

4. Nirvana can be achieved through eight-fold path -Athanga Margga

B.Ashtangika Marga-

This path is the Eight-Fold Path (Ashtangika Marga).

The Eight-Fold Path consists of the following principles:

Right View- 

• It is to understand that the world is filled with sorrow generated by desire.

• The ending of desire will lead to the liberation of the soul.

Right aim- 

• It seeks to avoid the enjoyment of the senses and luxury.

• It aims to love humanity and increase the happiness of others.

Right speech- 

• It seeks to emphasize the speaking of truth always.

Right action- 

• It is understood to be unselfish action.

Right livelihood- 

• It instructs that a man should live by honest means.

Right effort- 

• It is the proper way of controlling one’s senses so as to prevent bad thoughts.

• It is through correct mental exercises that one can destroy desire and attachment.

Right mindfulness-

• It is the understanding of the idea that the body is impermanent, and meditation is the means for the removal of worldly evils.

Right concentration-

• The observation of it will lead to peace. Meditation will unravel the Real Truth

Some Terms/ philosophy/ Concepts related to Buddhism-

Karma-

• Buddhism laid great emphasis on the law of ‘karma’.

• According to this law the present is determined by past actions.

• The condition of man in this life and the next depends upon his own actions.

• Every individual is maker of his own destiny.

• We are born again and again to reap the fruits of our ‘karma’.

• If an individual has no sins, he is not born again.

• Thus, the doctrine of karma is the essential part of the teachings of the Buddha

Ahimsa-

• He held that violence and cruelty against animate beings was a sin.

• He condemned religious sacrifices and eating of animal flesh.

• He said that one should cultivate love for all beings.

• He was opposed to all types of violence because it was against the principle of law.

• However, unlike Mahavira, he did not carry the Ahimsa principle to an extreme

Denounced Caste System

• Like Mahavira, Gautama Buddha also denounced the caste system existing in the society.

• He denied the caste distinctions and by that raised the status of the lower class people of the society.

Nirvana

• The Buddha preached ‘nirvana’, the ultimate goal in the life of a man.

• It means the shedding of all desires, and ending of sufferings, which finally leads to freedom from rebirth.

• By a process of elimination of desire, one can attain ‘nirvana’

Middle Path

• Buddhism is based on Middle Path.

• He suggested that one should stay away from two extremes—rigorous penance and too much of luxury.

• Middle condition between both of these two is desirable

Buddhist Literature-

The Tripitakas-

It is the common name which is given to the Buddhist canonical literature and their commentaries in Pali language

It consist of three book-

A.The Sutta Pitaka

• It contains the discourses of the Buddha on various doctrinal issues in stories, poems and dialogue form.

It includes the five nikayas, viz. Digha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Auguttara, and Khuddukanikaya

• Dīgha Nikāya -containing long suttas.

• Majjhima Nikāya -containing suttas of middle length.

• Saṃyutta Nikāya -containing suttas organized according to content.

• Aṅguttara Nikāya -containing suttas arranged according to the number of doctrinal items under discussion.

• Khuddaka Nikāya -containing suttas not included in any of the other four nikāyas.

B.Vinaya Pitaka

• Deals with the rules and regulations of the monasticlife and the conduct of the monks.

• It containsinformation about the Buddha’s life, events and the story of Buddhism down to the first schism.

• It was written in 386 BCE

C.The Abhidhamma Pitaka

• It means ‘higher Dhamma’& contains matter related to Buddhist philosophy in accordancewith the Theravada school and contains lists, summaries and questions and answers

Other Budhists texts-

A.The Kathavatthu

• It  is a part of the Abhidhamma Pitaka was composed by Mogaliputta Tissa, a great BuddhistAcharya, during the time of Ashoka.

B.Theragatha and Therigatha-

• Theragatha are Verses of Elder Monks and Therigatha are Verses of the Elder Nuns).

• These are a collection of poems with verses which were narrated by the early members of the Buddhist Sangha.

• Therigatha is the first surviving poetry supposed to have been composed by women in India

C.Milindapanha

• It  consists of a dialogue between Indo-Greek king Menander and a Buddhist monk Nagasena.

D.Buddhavamsa

• It is a collection of Buddhist legends which depict the previous incarnations of Buddha

E.Mahavamsha and Dipavamsha

• The Sinhalese chronicles Mahavamsha (‘GreatHistory’) and Dipavamsha (‘History of the Island’) entail the history of Buddhism from the time of the Buddha’s Enlightenment to third century BCE in India and fourth century in Sri Lanka

F.The Jataka Stories

• The Jataka Stories of Mahayana Buddhism deal with the previous births of the Buddha.

• About 549 Jataka stories have been collected and published.
• The Lalitvistara, the Pradnya Paramita and Saddharma Pundarika are the famous vaipulya sutras.

G.The Lalitvistara -

• It contains the story of the  life of Buddha.

H.The Vaipulya Sutras -

• It deal with Buddhist doctrines in ninebooks.

• The Mahayana canonical works are called Vaipulya sutras

Budhists Scholars-

Nagarjuna,Chandrakirti,Dharmakirti , Ashvaghosha & Vasubandhu were the great Buddhist scholars

A.Nagarjuna

• Nagarjuna founded the Madhyamika school of Mahayan Buddhism.

• He was contemporary of Satavahana King Gautamiputra.

• Most important work is Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, which means Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way.

• His theory is also known as Shunyavad “emptiness

B. Chandrakirti

• He was a disciple of Nagarjuna and a scholar at the Nalanda University.

• Prasannapadā is his main work which means happy words or clear words

C.Dharmakirti

• Dharmakirti lived in 7th century AD and was primary theorist of Buddhist Sankya.

• He was a teacher at the Nalanda University and a poet.

• He has written Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition. He has been called “Kant of India’.

D.Ashvaghosha

• Ashvaghosha, who was the contemporary of the Kushans is regarded as top most Sanskrit writer.

• He wrote 'Buddha Charita', Sari

E.Putta 

• Wrote Prakarana and Soundarananda in Sanskrit

Development and Spread of Buddhism-

Spread of Buddhism-

• During the lifetime of the Buddha, Buddhism was accepted by a large section of the people.

• For example, the people of Magadha, Kosala, Kaushambi had embraced Buddhism.

• The republics of Sakyas, Vajjis and Mallas also followed the process.

• During the third century B.C. the spread of Buddhism was promoted by Ashoka (270-232) .

• He began to preach Buddha's teachings through the edicts inscribed on stone pillars placed throughout his kingdom.

• He extended many favours to the religion.

• During his reign thefifth religious council was held at Prayaga (Allahabad).

• The monks who controlled the monastic universities like the one at Nalanda kept its tradition alive.

• Fa Hien, Huien Tsiang and I-Tsing who came from China were said to have studied at Nalanda and other centres of Buddhist learning.

• Kanishka made Buddhism the state religion and it spread to Central Asia, West Asia and Sri Lanka

The Sangha-

• The Sangha was the religious order of the Buddhists.

• It was a well-organized and powerful institution which popularised Buddhism.

• Membership was open to all persons above fifteen years of age, irrespective of caste.

• Criminals, lepers and persons affected by infectious diseases were not given admission into the Sangha.

• Initially the Buddha was not in favour of admitting women in the Sangha.

• However, he admitted them at the repeated requests of his chief disciple Ananda and his foster mother Mahapajapati Gotami.

• The Sangha was governed by democratic principles and was empowered to enforce discipline amongst its members.

• There was a code of conduct for the monks and nuns and they were bound to obey it

Buddhist councils-

1^st Buddhist council-

• The first Buddhist Council was held in 483 BCE in the Saptapami cave near Rajagriha.

• It was presided over by Mahakassapa under the patronage of the king Ajātasattu.

• Buddha’s speech, conversations and sermons were compiled and classifi ed in many categories.

• These compilations were given form of official compositions (granth).

• Teachings of Buddha were divided in to two parts and they were called as Vinay Pitak and Sutta Pitak.

• The text of Vinaya Pitaka was established under the leadership of Upali and that of Sutta Pitaka was settled under the leadership of Ananda

2^nd Buddhists Council-

• The second Council was held at Vaishali in 383 BCE.

• It aws under the Patronge of Kalasoka of Sisunaga dynasty

Conflict-

• Baudha Bhikshus of Vaishali accepted some norms which were against Vinay pitak.

• As a result there was a great dispute amongst Bhikshus and they divided into Sthavir and Mahasanghik factions.

Sthavir-

• Sthavir were antichange.

• The Sthaviravadins followed strict monastic life and rigid disciplinary laws as originally prescribed.

Mahasanghik-

• Mahasanghik were pro-change.

• The group which followed modified disciplinary rules was called the Mahasangikas.

3^rd Buddhist council-

• Third such meeting was held in patliputra in the regime of Ashoka under the chairmanship of Moggaliputta Tissa.

• In this meeting, old and authentic Baudha books were re-divided, and a new book was added.

• In this Council the philosophical interpretations of the doctrines of the Buddha were collected into the third Pitaka called Abbidhamma Pitaka

4^th Buddhist council-

• The fourth Council was held during the reign of Kanishka in Kashmir.

• Buddhism got divided into two major factions in the later time. One was Heenyan and another Mahayaan.

• From this time only, Mahayaan started promoting in north India. Mahayaan introduced statue worship in Buddhism, but Heenyan continued to adhere to Buddha’s Path.

Sects of Buddhism-

The Heenayan and The Mahayana-

A.The Heenyan-

• It is also called as The Theravada.

• Heenyan accepted pure and elementary form of religion by considering founder of Buddhism, Buddha as human being.

• Hence, there was no room for statue worship, prayers of Buddha, complexed rituals and incarnation.

• Hinayanism did not regard Buddha as a god free from the cycle of birth and rebirth while Mahayanism regarded Buddha as god and believed in his different incarnations to be all free from the cycle of birth.

• It did not recognize emotions. As a result this sect was less liberal, rigid and of narrowed perspective and non-solipsist.

• This faction considered suppression of desires as the natural path to salvation.

• Its religious scripture has been written in Pali language.

• This faction was only promoted in Syam, Burma, Lanka etc Countries

B.The Mahayana-

• Mahayaan faction, Mahatma Buddha was worshipped and revered as they considered him to be divine soul, God, incarnation of God.

• Having built the statue of Buddha and Bodhisattva, they adored him.

• Gradually this sect started building temples, established Buddha statue in them and custom of offering gift, valuables etc started gaining ground .

• Thus in this faction, statue worship, rituals, divinity and incarnation theory got importance, which resulted in making it emotion dominant, liberal and solipsist and it came closer to religion

Follower- Parshwa, Ashwaghosha, Nagarjuna, Vasumitra etc.

This sect was more promoted in Tibet, Japan, China and Central Asia

Difference between Hinayana and Mahayana

• Hinayanism did not regard Buddha as a god free from the cycle of birth and rebirth while Mahayanism regarded Buddha as god and believed in his different incarnations to be all free from the cycle of birth.

• Hinayana regarded Nirvana as a state of permanent peace free from cycle of birth while Mahayanism regarded it as the union with Adi Buddha.

• The religious texts of Hinayanism were written in Pali; whereas, the text of Mahayanism was written in Sanskrit.

• The Mahayanism remained closer to the concept of Hinduism with regard to Nirvana, Brahman, incarnation of god, faith, etc., while Hinayanism was distinct from Hinduism.

Some Other Sects of Buddhism-

Other than Mahayan and Heenayana there is also one more sect of budhism-

The Tantrayana or Wjrayana-

• It is prevalent in Tibet, Mongolia, and some parts of Siberia.

• The third stage in Buddhist philosophy was the incorporation of a magical - mystic dimension where the followers of Vajrayana believed that release or salvation could be best achieved by acquiring magical powers which was called Vajra, meaning thunderbolt or diamond.

• This form of Buddhism was focussed on feminine divinities who were the force or potency (Sakti) behind the male divinities.

• These feminine 'spouses' or the Buddhas or Bodhisattava of the new sect were the saviouresses (Taras) of their followers

Spread and Decline of Buddhism-

Reasons for Spreading of Buddhism-

• Personality of Buddha-His life was a living example of all that he preached.

• Buddhism did not believe in caste system.

• Buddha preached in the language of the common man Buddha preached his doctrine in Pali and Magadhi languages, a method that was easily accepted by the lower strata of the society.

• Buddhism enjoyed the royal patronage of the kings like Ashoka and Kanishka and many royal families.

• Buddhist Sanghas proved to be the best instruments in the propagation of Buddhism.

• The sanghas were also the centres of Buddhist activities, learning and spiritual exchange for the monks.

• The relaxation of strict rules for masses, absence of any rival sect and lastly the great centres of higher learning like Taxila and Nalanda Universities led to its development.

Reasons for Decline of Buddhism-

• The Buddhist Sanghas, which were created as the centres of learning activity for the nuns and monks, became centres of moral corruption.

• Buddhism became a victim to the evils of Brahmanism against which it had fought in the beginning.

• Mahayanism, a sect of Buddhism, which introduced image worship, prayers, religious festivals and processions, brought in ritualism. Thus, effective use and display of wealth was possible.

• This led to the loss of moral, intellectual and spiritual strength of Buddhism.

• Buddhist monks were gratudlly cut off from the main stream of peoples like They gave up Pali, the language of the people and took to Sanskrit, the language of intellectuals.

• Lack of royal patronage in the later years greatly contributed to the decline of Buddhism. After Kaniska and Harashavardhan it did not receive any royal patronage.

• The foreign invaders like the Hunas and Turks also greatly contributed to the decline of Buddhism in India. They destroyed Buddhist monasteries and monuments in North-West India.

• Buddhism was divided into various sects even prior to its great split into Mahayanism and Hinayanism